You have questions about Obits. This is understandable. They’re an intriguing band. For starters, you ask, “Are Obits ‘indie rock veterans’?” The answer is: yes and no. Yes, they are accomplished musicians who once fronted Drive Like Jehu, Edsel, Hot Snakes, and Pitchfork. But also; No, they are not active or retired members of the United States military. They are not veterans in that sense. It’s good to get these things sorted out. Don’t worry—there are no dumb questions.
Are Obits a young band? They are. Another good question. A child born in 2007, when Greg Simpson joined as bassist, would not yet be in kindergarten. Obits didn’t self-release their first single (“One Cross Apiece” b/w “Put It in Writing”) until late 2008. Their debut LP (I Blame You, on Sub Pop), wasn’t released until March 2009.
Is it true fans bootlegged Obits’ very first show? It is very much true. Does their stripped-down rock incorporate elements of surf and garage? Absolutely it does. The members of Obits are fans of oldies. They generally dislike newies. But their influences simmer in the crock-pot of human creativity; you will find only disappointment if you try to deduce the muse of any given song.
What, you ask, of Obits’ new record? Well, for starters, it’s their second full-length, and it’s called Moody, Standard and Poor. It was recorded at Brooklyn’s Saltlands Studio by Eli Janney and Geoff Sanoff. Sub Pop will release it on March 29, 2011. This concerns you. Isn’t that Vangelis’s birthday? To be perfectly honest, it is. This was a scheduling snafu, plain and simple. There’s nothing to be done about it now.
Will this be a “yelly” record? No, it will not. Rick Froberg doesn’t yell any more. It makes him uncomfortable. Hurts his throat. He’s not going to do it. Unless he sees a fire in the engineer’s booth, or a crazy man with a knife hiding behind one of the amps. And even then, it’s doubtful that Rick’s yelling would make it onto tape.
Is there a tradeoff for Rick not yelling? Absolutely. Obits’ music is more stripped down than any of Froberg’s previous bands. As chief songwriter, he spares the overdubs and spoils the open chords. Sonically, it’s an intimate sound, borderline chummy. It’s like you’re hanging out with them at practice. Only you’re not actually, physically, hanging out with them at practice, so you won’t be made to feel rude.
So how will Moody, Standard and Poor make you feel? The short answer is: great. Not Smoking-An-Eightball-Of-Coke great. But Alive-To-New-Listening-Experiences great. This intrigues you. I can see it on your face. You’re thinking, “What about the long answer?”
The long answer is that these twelve songs will take you on a series of emotional road trips. Some will be as brief as a walk to the fridge. Others will be epic pilgrimages to the shady hinterlands of your subconscious. Great records can do this. Moody, Standard and Poor is no exception.
You ask for elaboration, which seems fair. I can tell you that the fuzzy under-drone of “Shift Operator”—one of two songs sung by guitarist Sohrab Habibion—will evoke the joy of driving to grab a taco very late at night, after a storm, finding the wet city roads entirely yours. The bendy twang of “New August” will recall a fiery dusk, long forgotten, when you sat in a different car and came to terms with a difficult romantic or professional setback. The spooky resonance of “I Blame Myself” will remind you of a time when you were alone, and lonely, and trapped in an abandoned zinc mine. Don’t be scared of these emotions. The park rangers eventually rescued you, remember? Everything worked out.
What, you ask, of their songwriting chops? Here I need to stop you. Remember how I said there were no dumb questions? It turns out I was wrong. This one actually is a dumb question. Obits are a group of accomplished indie-rock veterans, not a cut of pork. Please do not use the word “chop” in this context again.
I’m glad we had this talk!
—Sam McPheeters
Obits:
Rick Froberg—guitar, vocals
Sohrab Habibion—guitar, vocals
Greg Simpson—bass
Scott Gursky—drums
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Obits es una banda de Rock estadounidense que nacio como un trio en 2006, y que luego devino en cuarteto. No eran nuevos en esto de deleitarse con los sonidos de guitarras enraizado en los 70´s, todos vienen de grupos con cierta trayectoria under, por lo que podemos definirlos como una especie de “veteranos Garage Punk Rock” al frente de una banda Indie Garage Rock.
Rick Fröberg es su frontman, con la chapa de haber pertenecido a bandas como Pitchfork, Drive Like Jehu y Hot Snakes, todas bandas de dos vocalistas , Fröberg y John Reis, y que tendieron a producir uno o dos discos y luego cambiar a otro proyecto.
Obits es la primera banda en la que Rick juega sin la sombra de Reis, y arranca con un estilo de una extraña fusion entre indie rock y garage punk 70´s, quizas una versiomn mas simplificada de lo que hacia antaño, quizas la verdadera escencia musical de Fröberg .
Se formaron en 2006 pero hicieron su aparicion en 2008 con su primera presentacion en vivo en el Cake Shop , un club en el Lower East Side de NY, presentacion que fue grabada por un fan y colgada en Internet con no muy buena calidad, pero que llamo la atencion de mas seguidores y de la gente de Sub Pop Records, quienes se encargaron de producir su primer larga duracion I Blame You,( antes de este ya habian lanzado un single por Stint Records).
A partir de aqui, otro single y presentaciones en vivo hasta reaparecer hace unos dias con su segundo trabajo Moody, Standar and Poor.
Hay muchas bandas este momento explorande el mismo territorio de Obits, pero creo que este ultimo disco es una muestra mas de que Rick Fröberg se ha despojado de sus bandas anterores para tomar entidad musical propia, y lo esta haciendo bien, espero que tambien les guste, saludos…
Obits – Live At Cake Shop 1/12/08
Label- Free Music Archive
Format- 10 x File, MP3, 320 kbps
Country- US
Released- 24 Apr 2009
Recorded By, Engineer – Ivan Brusic*
First Obits show.
Track 1 later became “I Can’t Loose”.
Track 7 later became “Fake Kinkade”
Downloadable via the FMA website
Tracklist
1 New Western Anthem 3:35
2 Widow Of My Dreams 4:02
3 Talking To The Dog / Pine On 5:01
4 Run 3:16
5 Light Sweet Crude 3:46
6 One Cross Apiece 3:50
7 You Took An Axe 2:35
8 Two-Headed Coin 4:19
9 Back And Forth 3:29
10 Milk Cow Blues 4:33
Obits – One Cross Apiece
Label- Stint
Format- Vinyl 7″
Country- US
Year- 2008
Tracklist
One Cross Apiece
Put It In Writing
Obits – I Blame You
Label- Sub-Pop Records
Format- LP CD ALBUM
Country- US
Year- 2009
Tracklist
Widow Of My Dreams
Pine On
Fake Kinkade
Two-Headed Coin
Run
I Blame You
Talking To The Dog
Light Sweet Crude
Lilies In The Street
SUD
Milk Cow Blues
Back And Forth
Obits – Live At WFMU On Evan “Funk” Davies Show 4/21/2009
Label- WFMU
Format-10 x File, MP3,256 kbps
Country:US
Released: 24 Apr 2009
Recorded live at the WFMU/Aquarius Records SXSW showcase.
Downloadable via the Free Music Archive (FMA).
Tracklist
1 Fake Kinkade 3:29
2 Two-Headed Coin 4:15
3 Talking To The Dog 2:29
4 I Blame You 1:22
5 Light Sweet Crude 3:57
6 SUD 4:13
7 Lilies In The Steets 3:51
8 Milk Cow Blues 4:38
9 Back And Forth 3:31
10 Interview With Evan 3:50
Obits – Live @ KEXP 5/16/2009
Format-1 File, MP3,320 kbps
Country:US
Released: 16 May 2009
Downloadable via the Free Music Archive (FMA).
Track
Put It In Writing (Live @ KEXP) (03:08)
Obits Perform Live In The Current studios [KCMP]
mp3 web rip
released July 27, 2009
tRACKLIST
01. Presentation
02. I Can’t Lose
03. Interview I
04. Two-Headed Coin
05. Interview II
06. Back and Forth
Obits – I Can’t Lose B/W Military Madness
Label- Sub-Pop Records
Format- Vinyl 7″ Single Red
Country- US
Year- 2009 EXCLUSIVE RECORD STORE DAY
Tracklist
I Can’t Lose
Military Madness
Obits – Moody, Standard, and Poor
Label- Sub-Pop Records
Format- LP CD ALBUM
Country- US
Year- 2011
Tracklist
1. You Gotta Lose
2. I Want Results
3. Everything Looks Better In the Sun
4. Killer
5. Shift Operator
6. No Fly List
7. Naked To the World
8. Spot the Pikey
9. New August
10. Standards
11. Beggin’ Dogs
12. I Blame Myself
PP
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